Wow... I have sort of the same kind of story, involving a dog.
(btw, my homeowner's insurance co asks if you have a dog, and what
kind, etc. and I was told NO insurance company in VT will now give
coverage to anyone who owns a Rotweiller or Pitbull! I have a little
black "shaggy dog" I once inherited after one of my daughters got a
divorce.. he seems to be fine with the insurance co)
Anyway, about a year ago, my daughter's boyfriend, who was living
elsewhere at the time, heard an ad on a radio "Trading Post" (ad)
show for a "free puppy".
Since he was living alone (rented room) at the time, he wanted a
companion, and also wanted to get it because of his then 3 year old
daughter, who lived with me (and her mother, my daughter. They were
currently separated at the time)
So, he got "Buddy" who is an Australian Kelpie. He was the third
owner, the original owner had paid $600 for him (!) at a petstore,
given him away, they had given him away (on the radio show)
I think I can see why. I've seen talked to other Kelpie owners,
and they are horrified that one was sold in a petstore because they
are NOT really pets. They aren't mean, but they are used for either
working (herding on huge sheep ranches in Australia) or trained for
shows. Apparently this one was sold to a pet store for some reason.
His parents were imported from Australia.
He is a sweet dog, and VERY smart, but kind of a challenge as a
household pet. Oh, now he and the boyfriend are back living with me
(and my little black shaggy dog) again (LOL)
There are long stories but mainly once he gets out loose he goes
nuts- and runs and tries to herd cars out on the road (or my
neighbor's cows and horse) and seems to be in a world of his own.
Doesn't come back till he's wet, muddy and exhausted.
Not a real problem but... the cows are valuable and the horse is
currently up for sale for $3600. Not sure my homeowner's would cover
that if the dog chased them through the fence and a car hit them, or
something. And I really don't want to find out.
We have become very vigilant at not letting him get out loose
(unless the boyfriend is here, he is very firm with the dog and the
dog minds him). Actually,in a way we (humans) have become trained
more than the dog has (LOL)
I'm noticing now that Buddy will run downstairs- and go to the
kitchen door, and instead of racing out (if it's not shut tight-
though I have become very alert at making sure it is) as he used to,
he sits there and looks at it, almost like he now KNOWS he's not
supposed to just run out and off.
The first time I noticed this I told him what a GOOD DOG he is and
he seemed to know what I mean.
He also used to run back and forth on his long rope (actually
steel cable made for dogs- because he'd break or chew through a rope)
whenever a car went by and a few times I yelled NO! at him when he
did this. I noticed after that when a car went by he'd sit and look
up at the house, like to see if I was going to yell NO again.
I don't know what the point of this is, but it seems like it was
more me changing my mind (like seeing him as "minding" and being a
good dog) than anything else.
Communication (all minds are joined) or something.
I think he is a very unusual breed of dog (if you put Australian
Kelpie in search and find pictures, he is a chocolate color, and has
one ear up and one down- like a "cocky" attitude) and I think we had
to adjust to this, and join with him in it in some way.
Work around his personality or something.
~ Carrie
--- In Disappearance_of_the_Universe@..., "mstreet"
<mastreet@t...> wrote:
For any one that knows me, they know that I have a large German
Shepherd female dog, that I take out for a long walks early in the
morning. We got her when she was six years old, and were assured that
she was a gentle dog.
The first day we had her, I took her over to an off leash park, and
she got into three separate fights with other female dogs. I tried
taking her back to the farm where we had bought her, but they would
not take her back. From my understanding she had been used as a
breeding dog, and in her last litter, she had eleven pups. And then
they had her spayed.
So we kept the dog, and have had many forgiveness lessons with her.
<g> First of all she was not used to the city, and she seemed to
think that she was invincible when it came to cars. She had
absolutely no fear of them, and would run in front of a moving bus or
car, so I tried to keep her safe by taking her, to an out of the way
natural park. Which I came to like as well.
The road to this place, however was a well traveled road, with cars
often speeding along almost bumper to bumper. However I quickly
ushered her into the wooded paths and away from all traffic. The only
thing I did not seem to having control over however, were coyotes or
squirrels, and my dogs instinctive nature to chase them.
This happened one day, as my dog, actually chased a coyote back to
the main road, and across, in the midst of rush hour traffic. She got
safely across, and then just as quickly came running back. And I
watched in horror as I saw her bouncing off of a car. Actually it
kind of stopped all traffic, but to everyone's amazement, she got up
and came running back over to me.
The driver of the car, drove back into the park where I was, and
quickly began comforting me, as I was crying by now, and also
checking to make sure my dog was all right. When I assured him that
we were fine and then I apologized to him, he then said: "I am just
wondering about my car though?" And then I noticed the whole side of
his car was dented in. And he added, that he was not insured for
being hit by animals. I was so relieved that my dog was still alive,
and I gave him my drivers license and phone numbers, and assured him
it would all be taken care of, while again, apologizing to him.
A few days later I was contacted by his insurance company, and told
the damage was over two thousand dollars, and that kind of blew me
away. And then they said, perhaps my homer insurance would pay it,
but it was not their responsibility. I gave him my home owners
insurance number, little expecting them to pay for a dog, that was
not any where near its home when it happened. But surprisingly they
paid for it. And our insurance rates did not even go up.
Lately, in our morning walks, I have noticed two huge Rotweillers
(s?) with their owner, walking in the park, and I have tried to stay
clear of them, as I thought I heard the man call the biggest one, by
a female name. And knowing of my dogs history with other female dogs,
did not want to have to deal with any dog fights.
Yesterday morning however we bumped right into them, without any
forewarning. Immediately I began shooing away this one dog, who I
thought was a female, and looked to be about a hundred and fifty
pounds, and then its companion quickly came to its defense. And then
all the dogs were baring their teeth at one another. And me, trying
to control the whole situation. (lol) I can laugh now in retrospect.
The other owner called his dogs off, and then it was all over.
This morning as I walked the paths, I was wondering what I should
do, if I happened to meet up with them again? Then it suddenly dawned
on me, that these dogs had never attacked before. But it seemed as
though they had all sensed my fear, and they immediately became
defensive and non trusting.
So I decided to give a little bit of trust. Realizing that I don't
really have control over this situation, and my fear, did not help at
all. In fact, it only made matters worse.
It almost seemed as though I knew we would meet them again, and
sure enough we did. This time however, I just allowed the dogs to
meet and sniff one another. And the owner told me then, that biggest
dog was actually a male, and they were both friendly. And their was
no baring of teeth. They got along just fine. I even laughingly
admitted to the man, that my fear, seemed to be the biggest problem.
He too, joined in the friendly laughter, and then, we both watched as
our dogs got along as friendly as could be.
I don't know what anything means, but this seemed like another
lesson for me. To not think that I need to control things.
Peace Martha :-)
